It's not a "bottom" or a "correction" or an "oversight" or even a "boo-boo"

[SoCalDem]

The housing "troubles" are simply a case of massive F R A U D ...

Greenspan needed a way to cover up the theft of our national treasury, and a way to keep all the plates spinning over at Wall Street. The plundering of the home equity for el-cheapo interest rates, and the offering of loans to people who would have trouble getting a bicycle financed , created a whole bunch of bogus paper that was immediately put into motion, as the "players" traded it to each other, inflating their own "worth" every time the paper changed hands.

Every little kid has played musical chairs and could understand what would happen as soon as the music stopped..

The fat lady sang, the skinny old guy retired, and the buffoon spent all our money..and then he pawned the instruments..no more music..and no more chairs..

It's FRAUD..not any of the innocuous, cutesy names the media calls it.

and no one will go to jail.. the players have all stashed their loot in secure locations, and will claim "mistakes were made"..and they are sorry.. Oh, and F-U to the rest of us :(

[Karenina]

1. . .

:kick:

[gratuitous]

2. Word

The same thing happened in the 1980s when Michael Milken came up with his ingenious method of extracting and financing what used to be known as "good will" on a company's books, and the investment vehicle of the junk bond was invented, exploited, and eventually run into the ground.

I recall back in August, a fellow who had been speculating in real estate ("house flipper" just sounds so benign, doesn't it?) was bitching that the housing bubble had been a great thing until all the tyros got involved. Well . . . yeah, stupid. These Ponzi schemes are heavily dependent on a fresh supply of participants, and when that supply runs out, or confidence in the market begins to wane, the whole thing comes down. Just like invasions turning into occupations and sectarian strife, these things ALWAYS HAPPEN.

And, of course, the folks hurt most by the whole fiasco are the ones on the margin, the ones who just barely made it into a home they could live in (not an investment they could flip), and who suddenly find themselves saddled with more debt and less asset than they ever could have dreamed of. Meanwhile, Congress moves quickly to make sure that the big shots who were raking in millions, if not billions, don't get hurt too badly. You and me? Better find a refrigerator box before all the good curbsides are taken.

[SmokingJacket]

3. Ponzi scheme is right.

Success depends on an infinitely expanding market, which is impossible. I suppose those house flippers think every little shack should eventually be worth a million bucks.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Notice what the Republicans are spinning today?

They're distraught because the Democrats want to give a homeowner the right to sue Wall Street over bad mortgage terms. Or so the caption read.

First, that is such stretching of the facts, I find it hard to believe anyone will buy the hype. Second, isn't it interesting how the Republicans cry in indignation over our complicated IRS forms, but are not in support of easier understood mortgage contracts? Where is the disconnect, I wonder?

[CoffeeCat]

5. Very well said...

What you said is so important. Anyone who has been paying attention could
see that the consumers were walking away from banks with just enough rope with
which to hang themselves.

I remember driving around neighborhoods in our city and seeing "You can have this
house for only $399 a month!" signs in front of $400,000 homes. Banks enticed
consumers into these crackpot loans. They're like loan sharks.

What gets me, is if anyone entered a bank in the 1950's---and asked for an interest-only,
ARM with a 3-2-1 buy-down---they'd probably be locked up! Can you imagine our grandparents
meeting with loan officials and asking for a home-equity loan for leather furniture or
a vacation to Disney? People used to save. Our government is helping the middle
class destroy itself, and the banks are in on it.

It's the same scheme with credit cards. We've all been convinced that we need credit
cards. OH my gosh...you have to have credit!!! What about your FICO score!! Oh the
ever-holy FICO score! It's all a bunch of hogwash. Our government, coordinating with
Citibank---is pilfering the middle class and destroying it. Most of us are owned by
the man, because we've been convinced that we MUST use credit cards and that we must
buy, buy, buy. Citizens in debt are fearful citizens. They keep quiet and they
don't rock the boat--because they're one paycheck away from losing it all. They
don't attend protests, they don't speak out and they shut up and play the game.

If anyone thinks this isn't all by design--they need to wake up.

[struggle4progress]

6. Like the S&L crisis of the previous Bush administration